


Carnival fair fun

by EarthlySpaceAlien



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Bickering, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Unresolved Sexual Tension, carnival fair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:54:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29908989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EarthlySpaceAlien/pseuds/EarthlySpaceAlien
Summary: Mulder and Scully have somewhat of a bet and the winner picks their activity for the evening. Scully wins and she chooses to go to the carnival fair.It takes place somewhere in season 5 after Scully's remission and before Christmas Carol.
Relationships: Fox Mulder & Dana Scully, Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	Carnival fair fun

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Flashyzilla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flashyzilla/gifts).



Scully knew all along that she was right. They were in one of their small town cases investigating a werewolf. As usual, Scully had insisted that there was nothing paranormal to it. She knew much more about dogs than he did, and was getting mildly annoyed by the way he started turning down her comments, but being in a playful mood she decided to take a different approach. She challenged him. To be honest, it was more like a bet. The winner would pick something for them to do together in the evening before their flight. _Oh no, what a hardship._

_This is going to be interesting_ , Mulder thought when she voiced her idea somewhat timidly. He gave her a sly grin and said "It's on". _Maybe that is my opportunity to take her sasquatch hunting._

Early in the afternoon they received the results showing the tracks belonged to the suspect's dog, rather than to the suspect himself. Scully had the lab results in her hand with the cockiest smile, she knocked three times on their adjoining door and said: "Mulder, results are back" 

Mulder could hear the cheery tone of his partner and answers to the still closed door "Yeah? Come in" 

Scully opens the door, her smile turns impossibly cockier. Still wearing her red power suit, she finds her partner with the loose tie around his neck and three opened buttons of his shirt. She did her best to not let her eyes linger too long on his fit shape. 

Trying to get away from these dangerous thoughts she brags "It was the dog", throwing the file beside him on the bed.

"Awww no! No way." he hurriedly opens up the file, reading the information and looking incredulously at her. "Come on, really?" 

"Really" she crosses her arm still smiling "You know what that means. Dress casual."

"Where are we going?" 

"You'll find out soon enough." she walks to the door and before closing it she turns to him again. "Oh. And no work talk. Meet you in 20"

 _God, I like it way too much when she gets bossy._ “Aren’t you feeling full of yourself.” he says, bantering. 

“Not more than you do.” she answers as she closes the door behind her. 

And that is now how they find themselves right here, waiting in line to buy their tickets for the rides. Mulder did dress casual as she asked, with jeans, white t-shirt and his leather jacket thrown on top. Scully was also wearing jeans, and by some miracle, sneakers, which she avoided near Mulder so she would have a bit more of height. A white t-shirt was tucked in her jeans and over it a plaid flannel shirt. 

Mulder finds himself a bit restless, although happy to be doing something outside of work with her. A curiosity about carnival rides pops up in his mind, so he voices it.

“Did you know, Scully, that the carnival rides that get more reported for being hunted are roller coasters? You would imagine that fun houses would be there, on top of the list, but actually, we have more…”  
Scully raises an eyebrow at him, one that means are-you-really-going-to-bring-an-X-file-up-in-our-first-10-minutes-here?. Don’t get her wrong, she finds his boyish enthusiasm on those types of subjects very endearing, but she did ask for no work talk and also finds herself really up to some teasing. 

He notices her eyebrow shooting up and complies to her request, using another word instead of X File “Ahem, reports, on rollercoasters rather than funhouses.”

“Hmm. You’re not gonna make me hunt spirits, are you?”

“Me? Scully, when did I ever do that?” he says in mock-hurt.  
“You really want me to answer that, Mulder?”

They are next from the line, so when the cashier calls them he answers “Saved by the bell”. They purchase a few tickets for the rides and they are told to pay for the food on the booth.

Starting to walk side by side, Scully's stomach rumbles. 

"Somebody's hungry."

"Yeah, I really am." she says half apologetic, half stating it " Haven't eaten since before I left the lab."

"Scully!” he reprimands her like a school mum who found out that their kid didn’t eat their snack “OK, let's fix this. Let's get you a hot dog" he places his hand on the small of her back and they start to walk to the food court, getting in the line of the hot dog booth. After a few minutes of waiting it's their turn to order. They pay, then the woman in the booth gets one hot dog ready, telling them that another batch of sausages is almost ready. To which Mulder insists that Scully should have this first one "Come on, Scully, you haven't eaten in a while, you're hungry. I'll get mine in no time".

She nods at his sweetness and bites down the hot dog, making a low sound of contentment. _It's been a while since I last had one of these_ , she reflects, _maybe I should indulge more_.

Lost in her thoughts while chewing, she barely registers Mulder getting closer until it's too late. He grabs both of her hands, that right now hold the hot dog, and lifts them, taking a bite of her food. 

She jumps a little with his move, retreating in a reflex, but he had already bitten it. "Mulderrr!" she giggles while also trying to chastise him "I thought you had told me to have it!"

"I did, Scully. But then again, don't you know that we should always share and stuff?" 

She swats his arm playfully.

"Not this one. At least I'm glad you didn't get sauce all over me."

Ha says "I'm a gentleman", to which she scoffs. 

"Sir?" the woman calls him "Your hotdog is ready"

Mulder gets his own hotdog, starting to eat when Scully is in the middle of hers. Soon she finishes, observing him while he eats, enjoying his food. He senses her eyes on him, turning to her and smiling mostly with his eyes. Acting on an impulse, Scully raises herself on her tiptoes and holds his hands to take a bite out of his food just like he had done before. 

He swallows his food in gulp. “Scuully!” he imitates her tone from before, teasing “That was uncalled for!”

She stays in the same position, chewing close to him to show she’s enjoying the food she stole. Mulder suddenly feels paralized, the result of her brusque action. Scully is being such a tease today, she is still chewing right to his face while holding his hands with sauce near her mouth,

Taking her time, she swallows “Hmm, now you see my point.” she adds, her eyes glowing “My revenge”, then standing back.

 _She’s in to kill me today_. Taking great enjoyment in her behavior, he grabs a napkin from his pocket and just like with the ribs a few years ago, he doesn’t say anything, instead, getting closer and dabbing the napkin where needed to be cleaned. Scully raises her eyebrows, as if asking about what he just did.

“You had some sauce there”

“Why, thanks, Mulder.”

“I told you, Scully, there are still gentlemen out there.” he says with a mischievous look.

“Just like the truth, huh? We don’t seem to be able to find it.”

“Ouch, Scully. Now _tha_ t was really uncalled for.” he reacts as if she had slapped him in the arm, as if, even though playfully, she had a heavy hand.

Her reaction is to shrug and start to walk. Mulder follows her “Where are we going now, mean lady?”

She uses her warning look on him, although empty of actual warning “We… are going to the ferris wheel.” 

“Then, to the ferris wheel we shall go.” he adds, whimsically, afterwards placing a hand on the small of her back as they kept walking.

Getting to the ferris wheel, they had to face another line, which they did in amicable silence whilst watching people around them. When it was finally their turn, they got inside the cabin, sitting closer than necessary, there was enough space for them to be apart. The woman lowers the protection bar, Mulder holds it, turning to look at Scully full of excitement. Soon enough the ride is on and the wheel starts turning. 

“Are you enjoying yourself?” the question comes out of the blue while they watch the view. 

“Well, I am, Mulder. Yes, I am.”

“Is it everything you hoped for tonight?”

 _Hope? I hoped a lot more_ , she caught herself thinking. Deep down, she hoped that he would kiss her, but that still wasn’t a conscious enough thought. Her cancer-free mind had a lot of feelings to process that had surged to the surface when she was sick. But she had time. They had time. “The night isn’t over yet, though.”

“Hmm, you’re right about that” _Would it be too bad to think that I want to kiss her? Does that make me a bad friend?_

“Wait, Mulder! I have to record it for posterity.”

He nudges her with her elbow and she looks to the opposite side, hiding her smile from him. As they start to move again Scully tries to rest her head on his shoulder, he sits in a sloppier way to help her reach it. Now their arms are touching. Mulder rests his head against hers and slowly inches his hand closer to hers so that he finally holds her hand. Looking anywhere but at their joined hands, Scully holds it back, adjusting their position; she starts rubbing small circles with her thumb on his skin. 

They stay that way for most of the ride, watching the landscape. When their cabin is almost reaching the bottom, Scully squeezes his hand once, then let’s go. He lifts his head and so does she. Their legs and arms are still touching when the security bar is lifted. Both of them get out and they start to walk around the fair again, his hand going again to the small of her back. Still enjoying the comfortable atmosphere between them, they find themselves silent, but a man in a stall talks to them.

"Hey dude, yeah, you over there. Wanna test your aim and get a little something for the lady?" 

They turn their heads to the source of the voice, Mulder not resisting to waggle his eyebrows at Scully, getting closer to her, his mouth nearly pressed to her ear “Whad'ya think of that, Scully?”

Scully's cheeks blush when he gets that close, sending a chill through her spine with the sudden proximity. Mulder doesn’t wait for her answer and walks to the shooting game stall where there are metal ducks that slide in a row. The prizes are behind the ducks, divided into five shelves. The lowest one has small tokens, small doggy plastic balls and things that Mulder thinks that shouldn’t even be awarded as prizes. The prizes were getting better as the shelves were getting higher. Amongst the other ones there were plushies, keychains, balls, plastic toys and other things.

A still red cheeked Scully was standing at the same place, regaining her composure. She approaches Mulder from the back, taking a look at the stall.

“Is this where you got me my keychain, Mulder?” she says when eying some cheap-looking keychains. 

He smiles mischievously at Scully “Maybe it was.” then hands his ticket to the teenager at the stall. Meanwhile he stares at the trinkets on the wall trying to decide what Scully would like to get. His eyes stop on an alien plushie sitting on the higher shelf. _That’s what I’m gonna get her_ , he decides _._ The boy interrupts his train of thought by speaking while also handing him a gun with a cork on the barrel.

“Alright, so this is how it works. One ticket gives you the right to five shots. If you get one shot, you get one of these” he points to the lower shelf. The more points you get, the better is your prize. When I turn it on you can start.”

He nods to the informations and decides to push his luck by turning to Scully “You know, Scully, there is an european tradition of when men left to hunt the women kissed them goodbye. Don’t you wanna honor your Irish roots?”

“Mulder, stop bullshitting me.” she typically raises her eyebrow, hiding a smile. 

He shrugs as if he said ‘at least I tried’. The game machine starts to make a noise, getting Mulder’s attention and making him turn back. Scully raises herself on her tiptoes to peck his cheek, then, as quickly as before, backs away two steps to give him space to shoot. 

Mulder freezes, but at the same time he feels so warm inside that he could burst. She just kissed him. _Scully kissed him. Dana Katherine Scully spontaneously kissed him and so what it was on the cheek?_

“Alright, G-man. Aren’t you gonna get me another keychain?”  
With her prompt, he turns his attention to the alien on the shelf, then to the moving ducks. I really need to get that alien. He gets ready and shoots. One, it’s a hit, charge. Two, another hit, charge. Three, a miss, charge. Four, another miss. He hears an “ouch” coming from somewhere. Trying to focus again, he puts the cork on the gun. _Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m gonna embarrass myself with this toy, I’m a federal agent for god’s sake, this shouldn’t be hard_. Wanting to get at least three right, he takes a deep breath and shoots again. The cork hits the duck’s head and the teenager walks to him.

“Nice, three out of five.” he says with no real excitement when taking his gun. “Pick your prize.”  
Mulder looks at Scully, she raises her eyebrows and it’s her time to shrug. Feeling disappointed that he couldn’t get it, his eyes go to the alien again, then he scans everything again, reassessing his choices. 

“I’m gonna go with that keychain” he points to a keychain, making Scully smile on his side. The boy gets it to him, he thanks and gives it to Scully making big gestures "M'lady". A genuine smile appears on her face, picking the present up carefully.

Only then she properly looks at it, the keychain has a fragile ring, but attached to it there is a black medallion with a caduceus. She looks at him softly “Thank you, Mulder, you didn’t have to.”

“Nah, it’s nothing”

“No, it’s not. I really like it.”

Mulder smiles back at her. She gets closer to him, placing her hand on the back of his shoulder, then turning to speak to the teenager at the stall.

“I’d like to go, please.” she pockets the keychain and gets the ticket.

The boy repeats the same information while giving her the gun as if it’s rehearsed “One ticket gives you the right to five shots. If you get one shot, you get one of these” he points to the lower shelf. The more points you get, the better is your prize. When I turn it on you can start.”

She nods at him, picking up the gun. 

Mulder steps back to give her some elbow space. “Good luck, G-woman.”

Scully flashes her partner a smile and turns her attention to the ducks. She takes a deep, holds it and shoots. Bam! She hits one duckling and loads the gun. Repeating the same process four more times, she gets all of them right. After the last one, she puts the gun down, taking one step back and blowing her fringe out of her face. Scully fights back a smile to keep her cool exterior. 

"Well done, lady." the boy says slightly impressed "You can get any of the prizes."

Without second thought she points to alien plushie. "That one, please."

The teen gets it to her "Enjoy". She thanks him briefly and turns to Mulder, who is watching her. 

Scully stretches her arm to her partner "Here you go. You found your alien". His eyes start to glow with happiness and he holds the plushie giving her an inquisitive smile. "I saw you looking at it like a kid staring at a puppy in a pet store. So here you go, your alien."

"Stop it, Scully, you're gonna make me cry" he mocks, but adds "But really, I appreciate it."

They start walking towards the car in a silent agreement to end the night on this high note. "Okay, Mulder, so how are you gonna call it?" 

"Errm…" he thinks, adding in a serious tone "Scientific evidence."

She snorts a laugh "C'mon! Really?" 

"Yeah, why not? Gonna put it in the office. When you ask me for scientific evidence… Well, there you have it."

"You're unbelievable" she laughs again

"I thought you wanted to believe" 

"Aren't you in a roll" 

"That's what you like about me" 

"You wish" 

They get to the car and Mulder takes some quick steps to get ahead and open the passenger door for her. 

"Why, Mulder, who would've said that chivalry is dead." she says in a mock-tease sort of way 

"Anything for my partner that got me Scientific Evidence." 

She giggles and he relishes at the sound, considering a personal victory. I made her laugh so many times today. He gets inside the car, turns it on, making his way to the motel. Mid ride he suddenly speaks. 

"Scully?" 

She turns her head towards him. 

"Gerald."

"Hmm?" she says, looking confused. 

"His name is going to be Gerald. Gerald, the alien."

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work for this fandom, even though I have been reading X Files fics since forever. I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
